Past Films

My Life as a Zucchini

Director: Claude Barras

Genre(s): Animation, Family

Language: English/French

Rating: PG-13

Running Time: 70 min.

After his mother’s sudden death, Zucchini is befriended by a police officer, Raymond, who accompanies him to his new foster home, filled with other orphans his age. At first he struggles to find his place in this at times strange and hostile environment. But with Raymond’s help and his newfound friends, Zucchini eventually learns to trust and love, as he searches for a new family of his own. [Gkids]

"Seeing the world through a child's eyes can be pretty eye-opening. Watching My Life as a Zucchini, the altogether marvelous and Oscar-nominated stop-action animated film by director Claude Barras, that world is one you will not soon forget."

- Miriam Di Nunzio, Chicago Sun-Times

"It's well worth seeking out for older kids who don't mind reading subtitles, their parents, and any adults who can appreciate a good story movingly and creatively told."

- Ty Burr, Boston Globe

"The character work here is both intimate and nicely compressed. But the movie really gets to its most sublime heights visually."

- Glenn Kenny, RogerEbert.com

"Magical is not an oversize word for this exquisite film."

- Joe Morgenstern Wall Street Journal

"As unexpectedly enchanting as its title is initially perplexing, "My Life as a Zucchini" is short but oh so satisfyingly bittersweet, an example of the kind of movie magic that's always hard to find."

- Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

"My Life as a Zucchini is so warm, so alive, that we forget we're watching cartoon figures."

- Stephanie Zacharek, TIME Magazine

"Lovingly told and gorgeously rendered."

- Boyd van Hoeij, Hollywood Reporter

"It’s a simple story of children who have to figure out, at too young an age, what kind of people they’ll be. And in its pervasive sense of hope, Barras seems to suggest that they can be anybody they want. There’s always still time, as long as love remains in the world. "

- Dominick Suzanne-Mayer, Consequence of Sound

"A compact triumph of stop-motion animation in the service of a bittersweet tale, My Life As A Courgette (My Vie de Courgette) is as delightful as it is affecting. "

- Lisa Nesselson, Screen International

"A testament to the power of community to heal the deepest wounds, My Life As A Zucchini takes on heavy subject matter with a light hand, and comes up with a delightful tale that is equal parts wrenching and uplifting. "